Wasilla boys dominate Skyview swim meet

Frontiersman

SOLDOTNA - With nearly every swim team from Region III competing at the Skyview Invitational in Soldotna Saturday, the Wasilla High boys swim team made it known they are the team to beat.

The Warriors used their team depth to outscore runner-up Homer by 20 points, amassing 82 points during the meet. Homer's girls took a similar route to victory, claiming the girl's title without winning a single event.

&#8220This was really a good gauge for us to see where we stand for the regional championships,” Wasilla coach Bobbie Hamilton said. &#8220All the big teams from the region were at the meet, so the results are a good indicator of how things will play out in a couple of weeks.”

Wasilla's boys managed to have least one swimmer in the top-five of each event, and in four races they had two.

Senior Wil Fernandez led the Warriors, winning both the 200-yard individual medley (2:11.52) and the 100 backstroke (59.83).

Erin Hogan gave Wasilla its only other individual victory, topping Colony's Tom Schacle by 13 points in the one-meter diving. Hogan finished with 226.3 points.

Tommy Hightower, Charles Frey and Christian Long all recorded a pair of top-five finishes, providing key points for the Warriors' victory.

Hightower finished second in the 100 butterfly (58:28) and third in the 200 freestyle (2:00.67). Long finished fourth behind Hightower in the 200 freestyle (2:02.57) and was third in the 500 freestyle (5:24.72). Frey placed second in the 100 freestyle (54.86) and third in the 50 freestyle (24.92).

Valley schools continued to display their mastery of the diving board, claiming five of the top six places.

In addition to Erin Hogan and Schacle, Wasilla's Ryan Hogan placed third (207.55), Cody Vetter of Colony finished fifth (179.95) and Mike Provo of Palmer finished sixth (178.9).

Scott Wundersee of Kodiak broke up a Valley sweep with a fourth place finish and a score of 183.10.

&#8220Our divers got a nice little surprise when they learned the Andy Knowles (of Kenai) wasn't diving this year,” Hamilton said. &#8220He would have been big competition for Erin and Ryan at regionals, so they were happy not to see him at the meet.”

The closest finish of the meet came in the girls 50 freestyle, where Wasilla's Caity Stigen edged Lauren Ball of Homer by .03 seconds to win with a time of 26.61.

&#8220Caity (Stigen) is really tall and has long arms, so it's tough to beat her when it comes to reaching for the wall at the end of a race,” Hamilton said. &#8220She really enjoys swimming the 50, so it was nice to see her get a win in that race.”

Her time in the 50 was a personal best. She also posted a personal best time in the 100 freestyle, finishing second with a time of 57.64.

Colony freshman Katelyn Payne was a two-race winner in the girls competition, dominating the long freestyle events.

Payne kicked off the meet beating Karen Philpot of Kodiak by nearly two seconds in the 200 freestyle (2:07.03).

Later in the meet, she duplicated her performance, winning the 500 freestyle in 5:30.91. This time, she topped Kodiak's Naomi Franquelin by three seconds.

Colony's Emily Whitstine and Shereen Whitford finished one-two in the diving competition.

While Saturday's meet was a preview for the region championships, the Warriors face a tough challenge Wednesday when they host a pair of Anchorage teams.

South Anchorage and Bartlett high schools will face the Warriors in the pool, starting at 4 p.m.

&#8220We've got some swimmers who are looking beyond the region championships, toward the state meet,” Hamilton said. &#8220South has some of the fastest boys and a girls swimmers, so it will be nice to get a look at them and see what it will take to compete at the state meet.”

Colony drop dual meet to SoHi

The Colony girls and boys swimming and diving teams were swept in a dual meet in Soldotna on Friday.

The girls lost 103-76, while the boys fell 116-53.

Katelyn Payne was a double winner for the Knights in the loss, posting the fastest time in the 50 freestyle (26.93) and the 100 butterfly (1:05.93).

Teammate Emily Whitstine won the one-meter diving with 229.8 points, and Janessa Willard won the 500 freestyle (6:47.07).

The Stars dominated the boys meet, as three swimmers win two individual events.

Soldotna's Forrest Eissler won the 200 individual medley and 100 breaststroke.

Daniel SpeegleEvans won the 50 freestyle and 100 butterfly and Colin Dudley won the 100 freestyle and 100 backstroke.

Colony's Tim Schacle won the boys diving, scoring 172.2 points. His win prevented a sweep of all the first place finishes by the host Stars.

Warriors sink Kenai

The Wasilla swimmers swept a dual meet on the road against Kenai, with both the Warrior boys and girls winning team titles.

Lead by Tommy Hightower, who won the 200 and 500-yard freestyle races, the boys cruised past the Kardinals 106-73.

Caity Stigen was a double winner for the girls, with victories in the 50 freestyle and the 100 butterfly.

Her wins helped the Warriors edge Kenai by 16 points, winning 89-73.

The only other multiple race winner for the Wasilla boys was Max Merriam, who posted wins in the sprint races. The 50 freestyle (25.41 seconds) and the 100 freestyle (59.66).

Contact Darrell L. Breese at 352-2267 or at darrell.breese@

frontiersman.com.